Pan Post 79
In Pan Post 79, a space boat collects Sir Caelia and Morganna le Fay who then share the story of Caelia with Merlin the Younger, Admiral Ltexi and Sir Galahad. Sir Caelia reveals that her husband, Tom a'Lincoln, once came to Avalon, where Caelia lived in the human world, with a wife and baby from the east. Apparently he had had to marry her so that she would not be sacrificed to a dragon in the lands of Prester John, because she would no longer be a virgin. Caelia had forgiven the act as it was necessary and believes Tom would have done the same for her, given his generous heart. She tells them she first met Tom when he was searching for elves in the ice wastes of Greenland, but he was dying in the snow. She feels like it was almost magic that attracted her to him, which Admiral Ltexi thinks as soppy, romantic rubbish and that on her world the women can have multiple husbands. Meanwhile King Arthur is disappointed with the planet Neptune being just like Uranus but the Fayrie King takes them to see the spaceship derelict which appears like a snowflake. Post Space Camelot: Dream Space Pt II Characters: King Arthur | Queen Guinevere | Prince Mordred | Morganna le Fay | Merlin the Younger | Sir Kay | Sir Lancelot | Sir Bedivere | Sir Galahad | Sir Tristram | Sir Caelia | Sir Red Rose Knight | Sir Black Knight | Sir Faerie Knight | Andy | Admiral Ltexi | Gamma Pans | Nerifian | Fayrie King | Monde The space boat hovers near the roof of the processing plant for Morganna le Fay and Sir Caelia to jump on. They both levitate through the air, gliding like ghosts, into the open hatch where Sir Galahad stands waiting. Morganna: "Is my brother already aboard Camelot?" She asks no one specifically but Galahad decides to be the one to tell her. Sir Galahad: "No, my lady, he has taken another route to Neptune." Leaving Camelot without Arthur would seem a dangerous thing to do had the prince actually been aboard. Fortunately Mordred is with Arthur and so whatever plot Morganna might have cannot be enacted. While Galahad respects, and even admires Mordred in some ways, he does not like his mother. And he certainly doesn't trust her. She's known to constantly be causing trouble for the knights and yet she's eternally forgiven for whatever mayhem she unleashes. Trolls, goblins and ogres have all been known to come wandering through the lands to steal sheep or burn down houses. There are rarely casualties, so Galahad assumes that she's easily forgiven by most, but Galahad cannot appreciate allowing such a threat to be anywhere near the throne. She definitely shouldn't be allowed within even a mile of the queen - and yet nothing is ever done about it. He will have to keep an eye on Morganna at all times, he supposes, until Arthur's return. Merlin: "They went through a gate, or something. I suppose they'll tell us when we arrive. I was thinking we should probably start some preliminary research into that lightning amulet--" Morganna yawns expressively and Merlin falls for it. Her face drops in disappointment. Merlin: "Or maybe I'll do it by myself..." Sir Caelia: "No fear, young Lynne, I'll help you, remember?" Merlin brightens a little but looks mildly irritated. Merlin: "It's Merlin now, not Lynne. But thank you Sir Caelia." Sir Caelia waggles her finger at the bald girl. Sir Caelia: "If you are Merlin, then I am Lady Caelia. Or maybe Mrs a'Lincoln. What do you think of that one?" Merlin looks aghast. Merlin: "Lady Caelia would be better. I couldn't call you anything less." Sir Caelia: "Well, you know I'm not a noble, right? We don't have such things in Albion." Merlin: "But you are a knight, now. I must call you something akin to Sir." The Aes Sidhe Faerie rolls her eyes. Sir Caelia: "You humans and your oddities. Sometimes I wonder how I ever fell in love with one." Morganna: "You've never actually told me how you met your husband, by the way. I know you lived on Avalon so that you could meet him when he returned to Britannia but that's about it..." Sir Caelia smiles at Morganna, this smile being a very genuine smile of gratitude. In that smile Galahad realises that she sees more to Morganna than Galahad can and he wonders if he has been wrong to judge the maligned woman. Sir Caelia: "And, as always, I thank you for letting me stay there." Morganna: "Letting you stay wasn't a problem. Letting your husband visit..." Admiral Ltexi: "And why would that be a problem? Woman's got needs, you know?" Galahad feels the breath rush from his lungs. He couldn't believe his ears and yet his heart races with excitement. Merlin, like Galahad, turns bright red. Luckily Sir Kay and Sir Lancelot are up front with the pilots, else there'd surely be a lot more discomfort added. Morganna slips a hand onto her hip. Morganna: "I don't like the idea of having non-magical men running around my magical island. It isn't safe--" She pauses and a brief flash of loss sweeps across her face. Morganna: "Wasn't. Non-magical people, especially men, tend to be clumsy and stupid around magic. Let him go traipsing about and he's likely to blow up or something." Sir Caelia: "My husband is more world-aware than you realise, Morganna. After all his wife is entirely magical after all." She smiles sweetly after pointing to her own face. Often Galahad finds it hard to remember that she's older than he is. Morganna: "I know, I know. I agreed in the end, didn't I? Course, when he showed up with that woman and a baby, I was less than pleased!" Caelia's face suddenly sours and actually manages to, for the first time, look older. Her eyes burn with anger but her face remains stony and hard. As cold as the ice she's so fond of. Sir Caelia: "Me neither." Admiral Ltexi: "I think I can read between the lines on that one!" She manages to stand on the space boat as steadily as if she is standing on land, even when the ship begins to sway and rattle through the aether clouds towards space. The rest of them are clinging to bars and straps positioned within the ship. Admiral Ltexi: "If a man of mine was claimed by another woman, that woman would have lost her head." Morganna looks downcast, probably lamenting that the man she wants has been claimed by another woman and there's nothing she can do about it. Caelia, on the other hand, looks irritated. Sir Caelia: "It's not as simple as that..." Admiral Ltexi: "Seriously? Seems simple enough to me. The ***** is trying to edge in on what's yours!" Caelia actually manages to calm slightly as she sighs. Sir Caelia: "She was going to be killed. Sacrificed, actually, to a dragon if he didn't marry her." Sir Galahad: "Marry her!? But he was married to you, wasn't he!?" He suddenly realises, as the four women glare at him, that he's the only male present and therefore only welcome as an observer and not a participant. He silences meekly. Sir Caelia: "Yes he was married to me, but Prester John didn't know that." Sir Galahad: "Prester John!? The Christian king in Asia!? I thought he was a myth!" He again realises that he's opened his mouth when he oughtn't. Even Merlin looks annoyed with him. Sir Caelia: "Not a myth. A dragon was terrorising his kingdom and wanted a sacrifice. As they always do. And so it was to be this girl that would be sacrificed, but she begged Tom to marry her and, thus, spare her from sacrifice." Merlin: "Why would that spare her?" Morganna: "She wouldn't be a virgin, pillock." Merlin gasps. Admiral Ltexi: "You don't have to be married to have sex..." They all look at Ltexi with shock, save Morganna who seems quite pleased. Sir Caelia: "So... it all happens. And then home comes Tom with this... this girl! And a baby girl to boot! I--I could have killed them both. I swear I wanted to--! But obviously... what could I say? What should he have done? Let her die? Stupid, stupid world we live in." Merlin: "Would he have forgiven you if it was the other way around?" Caelia smiles into the distance as she thinks of her husband. Sir Caelia: "Absolutely." Morganna: "You seem pretty damn certain of that." Sir Caelia: "He may not have the honour of Lancelot, or the faith of Arthur, or the purety of, even, Galahad here... but my husband has a heart bigger than any other human I've ever known. He would forgive me... and he would have cared for that child and maybe even the man I was with, given the same circumstance." Merlin: "Did you...?" Morganna: "Of course not! And she shouldn't have had to! We sent their pair of them off to Castle Camelot." Galahad suddenly jolts his head up. Sir Galahad: "Wait, are we talking about The Black Knight here? The child, the child is The Black Knight?" Sir Caelia: "I guess she trusted someone with the name of her father. So far as I know she doesn't like to let people know about that." Sir Galahad: "Actually I just sort of heard through rumours. Only put the pieces together now that you're talking about it. Wow... I'm sorry that happened to you, Lady Caelia." Sir Caelia brightens a little. Sir Caelia: "Finally. Lady Caelia." Morganna: "But you still haven't told me how you met the fool of a man in the first place!" Sir Caelia: "That's not a very interesting story. He was wandering through the the ice wastes of Greenland. Said he was looking for some ancient species that lived there before humanity existed. Elves or something. Anyway. I happened to be there, enjoying the snow. I actually used to go there quite often, take a trip through The Rift and journey over to Greenland. And there he was. Dead." Merlin: "Dead!?" Sir Caelia: "Well, almost dead. Face-down in the snow. Arse up in the air. Funny thing to find when you're having your morning walk. It's strange but I could just feel how... I don't know. I couldn't feel his spirit. It was so, so warm right there in this cold and desolate place. It honestly felt like magic." Admiral Ltexi: "Wow. I haven't heard such love-sick, soppy rubbish since my sister met her second husband. I have no idea where you people get your ideas, seriously." Merlin: "I'm sorry your sister lost her first husband..." Ltexi stares at Merlin for a moment. Admiral Ltexi: "He's not dead. The three of them are living hapily together even now. Actually she went and got herself a third." The humans, even Morganna, now stare at her with sheer horror. ---------- Arthur is disappointed to find that, as the Fayrie King had said, Neptune looks just like Uranus. If he didn't know he is on Neptune, he would never have guessed they'd changed planets. The king leads them up the stairwell while Sir Bedivere talks on and on about his turnips. Arthur had decided to be nice to his knight because he does love his vegetables. But honestly, who wants turnips when they could have cheese? The fact that the Fayrie King expressed his dislike for cheese and love for turnips had nothing, whatsoever, with Arthur's decision. Of course. Fayrie King: "And there you can see it!" They had reached the top of the spiral staircase where they are able to exit the aether processor and stand upon an exterior walkway. Arthur looks down to see the same fog of aether that crawls along the surface as there is on Uranus. And up above are the same old clouds. However there is definitely something looming just below those clouds. He strains to see it clearly as wisps of cloud keep shrouding it. Sir Bedivere: "What a most peculiar object. You said this is a spacecraft, right?" Fayrie King: "Indeed it is." Sir Bedivere: "But it looks like..." King Arthur: "A massive snowflake?" Notes Britt's Commentary TBA Category:Post Category:Pan Post